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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Common Core book picks

The appendix to the Common Core has an interesting list of books you could use to teach the new standards. I really liked this nonfiction pick: Toys! Amazing Stories Behind Some Great Inventions. by Don Wulffson. I used Youtube videos to introduce a few of the the different inventions: the slinky, magic rocks, and Mr. Potato Head. These are posted at the bottom. After reading each individual story I had the students work on this worksheet I created:

They had to record the name of the invention, the inventor, when and where they invented it, what inspired him/her, and a problem the inventor encountered. The last block was a place to record a trait or characteristic we noticed that the inventor had. For example: creative, hardworking, intelligent. Most of the stories in the book Toys! follow this pattern. Later on in the week we worked in groups to prove that inventors have common characteristics.

I used those large stickers to have the groups record text based evidence of inventors showing that they were smart, persistent, creative or hardworking. The kids really liked this book. The stories are short. You could read 2-3 in a period. They could also be easily summarized.

RI.4.1. Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. (We had to infer common traits of inventors)

RI.4.2. Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.

RI.4.3. Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text

RI.4.7. Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears. ( Some of the info from the Youtube video on the invention of the slinky conflicted and/or added to the information we learned from the text)RI.4.10. By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4–5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

1 comment:

Thanks for sharing another great idea! I hadn't thought about Magic Rocks in years, so went looking and found a site that tells you the chemicals you need to make your own. Could be a science lesson in this book, also.

It appears that this book could be used for a variety of literacy mini-lessons. Since our state reading test (NE--yes, we're one of the 5 hold-out states) is mostly nonfiction, this could be great to use for main idea, text structure, etc.

The main reason I was excited about this book, however, is the tie-in to entrepreneurship. Our small town (pop. 180) is building a grocery store/entrepreneurial center. It has been a joint project between our school and village. If we want to keep our young people in our rural area, we are going to need some entrepreneurs. Starting at the elementary school, we will be planting those seeds. It looks like this book would be a great resource for that. I'm off to order a copy now! Thanks for all the good ideas you send our way!